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A.B. Meek
by George J. Dance Alexander Beaufort Meek (July 17, 1814 - November 30, 1865) was an American poet, prose writer, politician, lawyer, and chess player. Life Meek was born in Charleston, South Carolina, but moved with his family to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at five years of age. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1833, at the top of his graduating class. He then studied law at the University of Georgia, and was admitted to the Alabama bar in 1835. In 1836 he volunteered for the U.S. Army, and served in the Second Seminole War. In 1836 he was appointed Attorney General for Alabama, and held that position until the following year.Alexander Beaufort Meek, Alabama Attorneys General, Alabama Department of Archives and History. Web, Mar. 18, 2013. In 1839 he launched a literary magazine, The Southron, which folded after 6 issues. In 1841 he became a probate judge. He was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in Washington in 1845, but resigned that job the following year. He was then appointed Federal Attorney for the southern district of Alabama and moved to Mobile, where he lived for almost the next 20 years. From 1851 to 1858 he was associate editor of the Mobile Daily Register, where many of his poems were printed. He married Caroline Lee Hentz of Mobile on September 3, 1856. An avid chess player, he served as president of the First American Chess Congress in 1857.Alexander Beaufort Meek, Chessgames.com. Web, Mar. 19, 2013. As such, he was instrumental in persuading his protege, future Grandmaster Paul Morphy, to participage.Jeremy P. Spinrad, "Judge Meek", New Stories about Old Players, ChessCafe.com. Web, Mar. 19, 2013. Meek also played at the Congress, winning his opening round but losing 3 games straight to Morphy in the next.< Meek was elected twice to the the state legislature. His 1st term was 1853-1855, when he became chairman of the committee on education, and sponsored the bill that established free public schooling in the state. He was re-elected in 1859, and became Speaker of the state House. He took part in the special session of the legislature that followed the secession convention in January, 1861, but he opposed secession and took no further part in state politics.Benjamin Burford Williams, Alexander B. Meek, Encyclopedia of Alabama. Alabama Humanities Foundation. Web, Mar. 19, 2013. Hid wife died in 1863. In January 1864 he visited his younger brother and his family in Columbus, Mississippi, apparently planning to move there permanently. Later that year he remarried, to Eliza Jane Cannon of Columbus. He died in Columbus in 1865. Writing Southern Literary Messenger: "“Meek, whether known as Alexander, as A.B. or Judge, has been guilty of good things. If we try to hum a song, ten to one that his ‘Mocking Bird’ or his ‘Come to the South’ does not melt upon our lips. If we grow patriotic, his ‘Land of the South’ offers itself as the best exponent of our feelings. If we ‘rake our classic recollections,’ some of his paragraphs on ‘Jack Cade-ism,’ that would not disgrace Macaulay, rush into our minds. If we swell with pride at the contemplation of our beloved section, the vivid recollection of his ‘History, Character and Prospects of the South West’ almost disable us for original speculation."Jeremy P. Spinrad, " Judge Meek", New Stories About Old Chess Players, ChessCafe.com, October 28, 2006. Web, Mar. 18, 2013. This Goodly Land: "A.B. Meek wanted to create a unique Southern literature in the tradition of Romanticism. He believed that Southern writing should feature the beautiful natural scenery, the original Native American inhabitants of the land, and the history of the region's discovery, exploration, and settlement."A.B. Meek, This Goodly Land: Alabama's Literary Landscape, Alabama Center for the Book, University of Alabama. Web, Mar. 18, 2013. Publications Poetry * A Poem ("pronounced before the Ciceronian club and other citizens of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, July 4, 1838"). Tuscaloosa, AL: Ciceronian Club, 1838. *''The Red Eagle. A poem of the South. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1855. **Montgomery, AL: Paragon Press, 1914. *Songs and poems of the South. New York & Mobile, AL: S.H. Goetzel & Co., 1857. Non-fiction *''A digest of the laws of the state of Alabama (with John Gaston Aikin). 2nd edition. Tuscaloosa, AL: D. Woodruff, 1836. *''The South West: Its history, character, and prospects'', Tuscaloosa, AL: C.B. Baldwin, 1840. *''Americanism in literature. An oration before the Phi Kappa and Demosthenian societies of the University of Georgia, at Athens, August 8, 1844''. Charleston, SC: Burges and James, 1844. *''Romantic Passages in Southwestern History; including orations, sketches and essays. New York & Mobile, AL: S.H. Goetzel & Co., 1857. **Spartanburg, SC : Reprint Co., 1975. Journals *''The Journal of A.B. Meek and the Second Seminole War, 1936 (edited by John K. Mahon). Jacksonville, FL: Florida Historical Society, 1960. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy West Virginia University.Alexander Beaufort Meek (1814-1865), Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and Poetry, Department of Arts, West Virginia University. Web, Mar. 18, 2013. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Audio / video * Video reenactment of Meek vs Amateur game by Serguei Vorojtsov ;Books * A.B. Meek at the Internet Archive *Alexander Beaufort Meek at Amazon.com ;About * Alexander Beaufort Meek at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. * Alexander Beaufort Meek at Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and Poetry. * Alexander B. Meek in the Encyclopedia of Alabama. * A.B. Meek in This Goodly Land: Alabama's Literary Landscape. * Alexander Beaufort Meek: Pioneer Alabama Lawyer and Literary Figure * The chess games of Alexander Beaufort Meek at ChessGames.com * * Alexander Beaufort Meek at Find a Grave Category:1814 births Category:1865 deaths Category:American chess players Category:American poets Category:People from Columbia, South Carolina Category:Alabama Attorneys General Category:19th-century poets Category:American lawyers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets